I ended November with a strange, quick hitting mini-flu that had me bedridden and very miserable for 48 hours. Being productive was out of the question. Maybe I needed that.
Today, I finally shipped out a big holiday wholesale order and feel GREAT about checking this one off the list. I also received some samples in the mail which I'd requested from an eco-friendly packing materials company and am really excited to try them out. I try my hardest to reuse packaging and use recyclable materials as much as possible. The big challenge for me is bubble wrap. I really would like to find a sustainable bubble wrap (i.e. not plastic) that can still provide security and protection for my ceramics.
Anyway, it's DECEMBER! In my household we have a busy little weekend happening right now, beginning with the first two items on my December List.
Dive into the Holiday Season
We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas earlier today. We're going to (re)watch some Christmas movies all throughout the season. My husband noticed me watching some of those Hallmark-channel-like Netflix holiday movies in the past few weeks and it gave him the idea to make a list of some classics for us to watch together. We have Home Alone (1 & 2) up next, and we're going to try again to watch Love Actually.
Our tree is going up tomorrow. The gifts we like to pile up under it for each other have already begun arriving in the mail. We've gone through a couple of quarts of apple cider. My snuggie is out on the couch. We're settling comfortably into this season.
Knit My Husband A Hat
He's been asking me for one for several years, and it should be the easiest request to fulfill. I mean I've knit legitimately hundreds of hats in the past five years or so. And for him, I've tried. I really have. But somehow every previous attempt just didn't quite work out right, whether the result was too big/small, or slightly scratchy, or the brim was too wide/narrow, and then I'd just lose interest and procrastinate re-making it and before you know it it's April and there's no need for a winter hat. This is the year I'll get it right.
Complete My First Breaking Ritual
I'm still hanging onto some of my first ever pieces of pottery. Items I would never put up for sale and that haven't found use in my home. I'll keep a few because it's kind of cool to see the differences between then and now. But I think it's high time to smash some things. Breaking pieces as a therapeutic ritual will be a nice way to close out this year. Decluttering and making space for newer, better, pottery in 2019.
Explore New Shapes
I was able to spend an entire afternoon at the studio on Friday, having had to leave work early due to our department being moved to another building across the street. I went with no distinct plan and messed around on the wheel for a while. It was both nice and frustrating, which is where I think creativity happens. Since finishing up holiday prep I've been making bigger bowls, and even more recently, cups with wavy walls. I want to keep working on these new shapes for a little while.
Eat at Candlelit Tables
We went to Marlow & Sons the weekend after Thanksgiving for dinner. It's one of our longtime favorites and we hadn't been back in a while. Well, we found ourselves looking at a brand new, very Japanese-inspired menu. (Andrew Tarlow, the restaurant's owner, had recently completed a reshuffling among his establishments.) It was a very different Marlow experience, and we really enjoyed it, partly because it felt so serendipitous, with our 2019 Japan trip having been recently booked. My date night outfit even featured a silk kimono that night.
But mostly it was about the ambiance, which I've always loved at Marlow. It's the kind of place you really want to walk into on a cold winter's night. It's all worn wood, mercury glass mirrors, candles. It's cozy and moody and wonderful. Last night, we went out with friends for dinner at El Almacen in Brooklyn and it had a very similar feel. I loved it.
More, please.